University growth and development on track

New chairs, more funding, IT upgrades, Liu Centre and the move
downtown are important advances

UBC is making great strides toward targets set in 1998 when it
launched the Trek 2000 vision for the university in the 21st
century, according to this year's Trek 2000 annual report.

"Since the publication of Trek 2000 in November 1998, we've
achieved a number of significant goals," said UBC president Martha
Piper of Trek 2000: The Story So Far... 2000-2001 Report released
in early July. "In this second report, we've provided an overview
of some key Trek-related actions completed during 2000-2001."

Trek 2000 outlines a series of principles, goals, strategies and
timetables to guide UBC through the next decade with a focus on
initiatives for people, research, community, learning and internationalization.

Some of UBC's achievements over the last 12 months in these areas
include:

Under the people pillar, appointing 80 new full-time tenure-track
faculty and approving 37 Canada Research Chairs under the new
Senate-approved Academic Plan.

Securing increased provincial and federal funding for research,
including $23.5 million for 195 science and engineering projects
in the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
(NSERC) annual grants competition, and leading the country for
the second year in obtaining Social Sciences and Humanities Research
grants.

Establishing a community presence in downtown Vancouver with
the opening of the storefront Learning Exchange on Main Street
to be followed by UBC's new downtown campus at Robson Square opening
in fall 2001.

Incorporating information technology into the learning environment
by upgrading an additional 10 per cent of classrooms and labs
and adding 1,760 connections to the campus network.

Strengthening UBC's international links with the September 2000
opening of the Liu Centre for Global Studies, headed up by former
foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy.